Darius now spoke up. “Hazel, you and Sophia do not have to call me Prince Darius. Daius is good enough for me. I am glad that we finally got to introduce Ari to my guards, but now for the actual reason that I came over. Milo wants to tell us about customs in his kingdom. That way we can show up prepared and can make a good show of ourselves. Everyone is invited to come and learn. I plan on having my guards come so they can make sure they know what they can and can not do there. Like pull a sword when certain people are present and stuff like that.”

“That sounds like a very good idea.” I glanced back at my guards and maids. Nodding, I continued. “I will bring my guards and my maids. Then my maids can learn what kind of things they wear there and who they have to bow to and everything.” With that now figured out, we headed over in Milo’s direction. Milo smiled at us and gestured for us to sit down across from him on a log. Sitting, we looked expectantly at him.

“Good choice bringing both of your staffs. You will learn a lot about my people and even about myself. Things there may be very different from what you are used to and they may seem odd or made up to you, but I swear to you that everything I say to you is the truth. The Black Renegades can witness and attest for my truthfulness.” All the Black Renegades around him nodded in solemn agreement. Knowing that no one here would lie to us, we dipped our heads in agreement to Milo. We were all ready and eager to learn the different customs and rules in the land of the east. “First, our King and Queen do not dress in all the finery that all of you do. We dress in apparel that you would probably find shocking. The Queens and Princesses in our kingdom and other kingdoms near ours wear trousers.”

My eyes lit up and my fist shot up into the air with excitement. “Seriously! Yes! I have been waiting to hear those words my entire life! As soon as we get there I am burning all of my hated dresses and high heels!”

Laughter erupted from everyone surrounding me. “Ari, must you shout that for the whole world to hear? They will think that we did not do a good job in caring for you.” Hazel tried to sound stern, but amusement was obvious in her voice.

“You and Sophia did a great job in raising me. I have hated dresses and heels since I was born. It was no fault of yours. Of anyone, the most fault would most likely have to be with my mother.”

Coughing to regain our attention, and probably to mask his laughter, Milo waited for us to stop talking and start listening again. “Right, moving on. Our servants and staff are treated as equals to us and lots of them are our friends. Much like how you two treat your staff and servants. Touring the south, north, and west though, I realized that most people in those regions do not treat their people well or with any respect. They think they are so high and mighty that they do not see that without their people, their servants, and their staff they would be nothing.” Darius and I had looks of similar acknowledgement. We had seen this time and time again from visiting royalty. Their attitude and treatment to our servants and staff was unacceptable and we had made sure to tell them that. Let's just say that most of the time they did not appreciate us telling them that. When our parents told them they listened more, but still not very well. Some of their visits had been cut short because of that reason. Milo gave us an appreciative nod. “I am very glad that you both understand and share our views.”

Raising my hand so I did not cut him off like I had not that long ago, I cleared my throat when he called on me. “When exactly did you start touring our lands and how come we never saw any of you until you kidnapped us?” Darius, his guards, my guards, and my maids looked expectantly at him. They had all been about to ask this question as well, I had just beaten them to it.

Milo blushed a little in embarrassment. “I started touring your lands about three years ago. You do not see things that you do not expect to see. Or at least, most of you do not.”

It was true. We had gotten complacent in our security and had stopped looking for anomalies. Instead we looked at the obvious and assumed that they were who they said they were and they were where they were supposed to be. Settling in, we listened to Milo talk about his lands for the next three hours. There were so many things we had to learn, and not a lot of time to learn them. According to our guides, we would arrive at the boat that would take us to their lands in three days. The boat ride after that was about two days across the waters. Practicing my greetings and what I would do when I met certain people, I was exhausted by the time we had finished for the day. Scarfing down my food quickly, I dropped into bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep. The next morning found me already up and about by dawn. Sitting by the fire, I helped some of the Black Renegades with breakfast.

Today’s breakfast was a porridge-like substance with some fresh berries we had picked earlier. They were the perfect ripeness and were so juicy and good. I might have sneakily eaten some of them before the Black Renegades had started putting them in bowls. There were still plenty for everyone else however, so I did not feel bad about it. Sophia and Liam were next to come to the fire. Turning to the side, I smiled. They looked like they had already had some good morning kisses. Their hands interlaced, they sat down beside me. Handing them each a bowl of food I started on my own. Closing my eyes to further savor the delicious berries in the porridge, I did not see the person who came and sat on my other side. Opening my eyes once I had finished eating, I was a little surprised to see Dustin on my other side. “Hello Dustin.” I kept my tone casual and open. I wanted to know why he sat beside me, but did not want to sound like I was interrogating him or anything. From the smile he gave me I knew that he knew exactly what I was doing.

Giving a little smile of my own, I decided to just see if he would bring the reason up. After a couple of minutes I grew bored of our game of who would break first. Standing I walked away from the fire and headed towards the practice swords the Black Renegades had brought to practice with. Snatching two up off the ground I threw one to the person following me. No surprise, it was Dustin. He showed no emotion as he caught the sword and settled into a fighting stance. Gripping my own, I slowly started to circle him. Seeing how smooth his movements were, I knew that there was no way he was going to trip or anything because of me circling him. Changing tactics, I stepped to him quickly and slashed downwards. Feeling the jar from our swords connecting, I let my smile loose. Fighting was when I was happiest. That and when I was working out. Getting into a rhythm, I quickened my strokes and switched from position to position very fast. Dustin matched me stroke for stroke. He seemed to still be feeling me out still, but a moment later that changed. Sure of what I could do now, he went all out and my sword flew out of my hands while his sword point rested on my throat.

“Can you show me how to avoid having that happen and teach me some of your tricks and moves?” My breathless eager tone seemed to throw Dustin off a little before he recovered.

“Sure. I could do that.” Handing me back my sword, we started off again, but this time Dustin threw out advice. “Keep your sword up higher. Stay on your toes and never stop moving. Try to hook your blade around mine to take it from my hands.” Finding his advice really helpful, it took him longer to beat me. “That was better than last time, however you sometimes are showing me what you are going to do before you do it. The way you do this is by flicking your eyes, shifting in one direction, or changing your grip on your sword. Use this knowledge and fake me out. Make me think that you are going to do one thing, and then do something else.”

“Okay. I can do that.” My voice was slightly breathless. I really needed to work out more. Coming back into my beginning stance, I attacked again. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” Blocking his next strike, I waited for his answer.

“I wanted to talk to you about Darius.” He seemed hesitant to ask about it.

Curious, I asked, “What about Darius?”

His voice became rushed and abrupt. “Do you love him?” Faltering from the shock that his question brought, I missed blocking his thrust and staggered back, wincing from the sudden pain on my now bruised ribs. Dustin hurried to apologize and make sure that I was fine.

Shaking the pain away, I waved Dustin off. “Don’t worry about it. It was my own fault for getting distracted. Still, I did not expect you to say that.” Dustin’s laugh was deep and full. “Anyways, to answer your question, I am not sure if I love Darius. He is a really good friend, he is always there for me, and I love having him around. However, I am still young. I am not quite sure what love is or what it feels like.”

“That makes sense. If it is not love now, do you think that you could love him?”

I didn't even have to think about how I would answer that. “Yes. I think that I could definitely fall in love with him. Why are you asking me all these questions about how I feel about Darius though? Did he ask you too?”

“No, he did not ask me to talk to you about this. I am one of Darius’s best friends though, and I knew that he has wanted to know these answers for a while now. This is a little surprise gift for him. Can I tell him what you told me?”

“You can tell him. Can you ask him these same questions and tell me the answers?”

Dustin shook his head. “If you want to know these answers you have to either ask him yourself, or have one of your own guards or maids do it. That way he will tell them and know that it comes back to you instead of me losing his trust because I told you his answers without his permission.”

I gave a soft smile. “Dustin, you are a good person and friend. Darius should be glad to have you as one of his guards. Thank you for helping me with my practice today and for giving me advice.” Dustin bowed and walked back to where Darius and the rest of his guards were watching us with obvious curiosity in their eyes. They were about to get a pretty big surprise. Placing the sword back on the ground, I went over to get my guards. “Hey everyone.” Looking up from their meals, my guards greeted me. “I am going for a run. I figured that you would want to know. My course will take me…”

Casey raised his hand to cut me off. “There is no need to tell us where you are going to be running because at least two of us are going with you on this run.”

My shoulders slumped. “There is no need…” I was cut off again, this time by all of their disbelieving and exasperated looks. “Alright. Pick the two that are coming with me.” After discussing it a bit, Alex and Tyler were picked to come with me. “Right, now I have a job for one of the two that are staying.” Casey and Liam looked at me interested. Casey volunteered for the job, but everyone stayed to hear what it would be. “Casey I was hoping that you would go over to Darius and ask him some questions for me. I want these responses even more now than before because one of his guards just asked me these same questions about Darius. Can you ask him what he feels for me and, if he doesn’t know or if he says no, can you ask him if he could feel something for me?” My face by this point was bright red, and I was embarrassed, but I wanted to know.

Everyones’ faces only held understanding on them. “Of course I can do that for you Ari. Do not worry about it.” Casey’s voice was gentle and kind.

“Thank you Casey.” Relief was heavy on my voice. Saying goodbye to Casey and Liam and telling them to say bye to Hazel and Sophia for me if they saw them, I started off on my long run with Alex and Tyler. The trek was long and arduous, but it felt so good to run this long and hard. Knowing that we had tons of time until we started our journey in the carriages for the day, I took the long route to get my whole exercise done during this run so we would not do any extra exercises. Halfway through our run, a crash in the forest to our right caused Alex and Tyler to grab one of my arms each and pull me back in between them. While they drew their swords, I reached down and grabbed a heavy rock. Hefting it in my right hand, I hoped that it was just a small animal, a tree falling, or some natural thing that would not really bother or impact us at all. Nothing came out of the trees, so after a while, Alex and Tyler began to lead me away from where the noise had come from. Dropping the rock to not waste energy, we left that area briskly and continued our run.

By the end of our run, I was bent in half trying to catch my breath and not puke. Alex and Tyler were breathing heavily, but they both looked like they would still be able to go back and run that same route a second time. Hating how in shape they were, I glared at them while they laughed at me. Putting my hands behind my head, I forced myself into a standing position and walked the rest of the way to camp. Shuffling my clothes around, I found a clean pair of clothes and went to the river near camp. With Alex and Tyler standing guard to make sure that no one stumbled unknowingly upon me bathing, I stripped and cleaned myself. Luxuriating in the feeling of cleanliness, I slowly put my clean clothes back on and pulled my hair into a braid. Heading back to my look outs, I took my time and enjoyed the scenery and sounds of the forest. Spinning in a circle to take it all in, I was astonished by the beauty of it all. Autumn was coming and the leaves were starting to turn different colors. Some of those same leaves crunched under foot and those noises joined with the animal and nature noises around me to create a beautiful symphony.

Skipping the final couple of feet to Alex and Tyler, I put one arm around each of them and hugged them. “Thank you for coming on the run with me and for watching over me for all these years. I do not know if I ever thanked you for it before, but I really appreciate it.”

Though they were astounded from the suddenness of my proclamation, they hugged me back. “Of course Ari. We will always be here for you. You are like our sister, and our best friend in one person.” Sincerity rang true in Alex’s tone. Tears formed in my eyes, but I blinked them back. Happiness for my life and everyone still in it flowed through me. I missed those that I could not see anymore like my parents, brothers, and Cayden, but they would always be in my heart, and maybe I would see my parents and brothers again one day. Grabbing my arm before I could go over to where I saw Casey sitting, Alex turned me to face him. “Ari, since you always seem to be in danger, would you help ease my mind and carry a dagger on you at all times? I will teach you to fight with it later.” Smiling at the worry in his voice, I agreed to carry the dagger and slipped it into my left boot. That done, I walked over to where Casey was sitting.

He spotted me and smiled. Waving, I hoped that whatever he told me was good news. Standing next to him, I became extremely nervous. What if Darius had said that he didn't love me and never would? What would I do then? Noticing my anxiety, Casey stood and pulled me to a spot away from everyone's hearing. “There is no need to be anxious, Ari.” A huge breath went out of me at that. “Were you holding your breath?” My guilty look confirmed what I would not say. After shaking his head, Casey continued. “The conversation with Darius went great. We went away from everyone and I asked him straight out your questions. His reply to the first one about his feelings right now was that he thought of you as at least a friend and maybe even more than a friend. The answer to the second question was that he was positive that he could fall in love with you. It may not even take much longer for him to.” My cheeks blushed a bright red. Chuckling a little, Casey left me alone with my thoughts. However I wasn’t sure what to do with my thoughts since they were everywhere. Like papers in a whirlwind.

After spending some time trying to put my thoughts together, I just decided to give up and try again once I had thought it through a while longer. Rejoining the rest of the group, I noticed that they were starting to take all the tents down. We were leaving to start our journey again to the east. As I was carrying my things over to put in the same carriage as my guards and Sophia, Milo came over to me and told me that my guards had given him permission to put me back in his carriage. Nodding my understanding, I helped with my tent and belongings and I packed them in our carriage and crawled in. I was both glad that we were leaving so that we could arrive there sooner, but I was also unsure because Darius was in my carriage and I was not sure how I should act around him right now. Should I bring up what our two guards had questioned each of us about and our separate responses to them? Or would that be weird, especially with Milo and some of the Black Renegades in the carriage? Choosing to let Darius make the first move in that direction, I resolved to act normally around him until he acted differently. Relaxing on one of the seats, I patiently stayed there waiting. Soon everyone had finished packing their things away and had joined me in the carriage.

Signaling the driver to start, Milo was the last to climb in and sit down. Sophia and Hazel had both chosen to stay with their loves in their carriages. I fully supported their decisions. After all, I was with the person that I liked, so why would I not let them have that same luxury? Though the Black Renegades were still surrounding me, I did not feel like a prisoner anymore. Sure, if I tried to run or leave they would stop me, but they had helped save me so I felt duty bound to go with them. Plus, they had fast become some of my very best friends. As one of the Black Renegades started telling a joke, we soon had a joke war going. Each person tried to out last the others. If you could not think of a joke in the allotted time, then you would lose. Since I did not have many jokes memorized, I was soon out of the running. Darius, Milo, and three of the Black Renegades were soon the only ones still going. Cheering them on and laughing at their cheesy jokes, I couldn’t remember a time where I had more fun. The competitors were soon down to only Darius and Milo. Apparently Princes need to know tons of jokes no matter where their kingdom lies.

My cheer was among the loudest when Darius finally beat Milo. His eyes connected with mine and we shared a smile. Certain that my cheeks were a little pink, I turned to look out the window to enjoy the views we were passing while recovering my composure. Remembering the last time I had done this resulted in me being taken hostage by Hunter and later by Prince Malick, I was greatly relieved when I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Our trip for the rest of the day was uneventful and as night fell we each started to drift off to sleep. Since we had camped the previous day, we would not camp again until we reached the boat that would take us the rest of the way. Our drivers would switch off so each could get some sleep, food, and water while the other would drive. Letting my eyelids close, I placed my head back against the seat and slept.

I was jerked from my sleep when our carriage went over a huge bump and I almost flew out of my seat. No one else seemed to notice what had just happened and they all continued to sleep on. They must have been much more tired than me. Or maybe they went to sleep a long time after me. Leaning my head back against my seat, I quickly realized that I was not going to go back to sleep anytime soon. Sitting up, I looked around for something to do, but everything I saw other than looking out the window or doing my hair had the possibility of waking everyone else up. Not about to do that, I started to play with and do my hair. Soon my hair was up in three braids and I moved on to braiding those braids together. I was not able to see my hair, but it felt cool looking. Glancing at my sleeping friends it was a pleasant surprise to see that Darius was the first one awake. “Hello sleepyhead. How was your nap?” My voice was soft and low so as to not wake up anyone else.

“My nap was pretty good. When did you wake up?”

Tilting my head to the side in consideration, I replied, “About five or ten minutes ago. The carriage went over a huge bump. I was surprised that I was the only one to wake up from it.”

Darius gave a soft laugh. “Yeah well the rest of us were really tired apparently. I love what you did with your hair to take up time though. It is really pretty and unique.” Blushing a little, I thanked him. “Of course.” Wanting to bring up what our guards had both asked us and answered us, but not sure how he would react, I looked at him in obvious deliberation. Before either of us could say anything else though, one of the Black Renegades stirred and woke up. Nodding good morning to them, we did not have to wait long until everyone else in the carriage woke up as well. The sun was coming up outside the windows now and shining its light over all of us inside. Blinking the tears out of our eyes from the sudden light, the carriage stopped abruptly. The Black Renegade drivers changed out and the old one climbed exhausted into their seat and fell into a deep sleep. Milo looked at the driver with a bit of concern. Before the new driver could start driving, Milo went out and had a little chat with him.

He told him to not drive for as long without taking a break. There were plenty of people who could drive. The horses were switched out with fresher ones that had just been walking alongside us. After the new driver agreed to Milo’s terms and once Milo had climbed back into the carriage, we set off again. Falling back into easy conversations with the Black Renegades next to me, I barely noticed the time passing. Before I knew it the sun was directly overhead and it was time for lunch. Pulling out my snacks for today, I started to eat my portion. Everyone’s portions were exactly the same. Some berries, nuts, some porridge, and water. Not too much food, but it would be enough to sustain us throughout the rest of the day. The moment I put the last bite of food in my mouth, our carriage hit another big bump and I bounced about a foot off my seat.

Food from other peoples’ portions flew across the carriage and I laughed when a berry hit my face. Milo immediately asked, “Does everyone still have enough to eat, or do we need to stop to get some more food?” The answer was the same from everyone. They all still had enough to eat. Plucking the berry off the ground, I flung it out the window. Watching it fall to the ground as we passed by it, I stared at a splash of color that appeared behind the berry. It disappeared before I could get a good look at it though. Hoping that color was just a natural part of the forest, I put my head out the window and looked back at the spot where it had appeared. Nothing out of the ordinary was in sight. Sighing in relief I pulled my head back in the window and continued watching the scenery flash by. Another splash of color appeared about fifteen feet after the first one. This one disappeared as well. The next fifteen feet passed and another splash of color came and went. Getting a bit worried, I looked over my shoulder at Milo and Darius. They were both staring out the opposite window and they looked like they were staring intently at something.

Spying part of a splash of color above their heads on their side of the carriage, I completely understood. “You two see the splashes of color every fifteen feet as well?” Darius and Milo whipped around to face me. “They are on my side as well. I haven’t been able to see what it is though. Have you?” They both mutely shook their heads. Mystified, I looked back out the window to see the next splash of color. The splashes of color all seemed to be different colors and they all kind of looked like an illusion. They shimmered and wavered like something that did not exist. Not daring to stick my head out the window of the carriage just in case the splashes of color contained something dangerous like the last one did, I got as close to it as I dared. One of the Black Renegades by the window gazed at them as well. We exchanged confused looks.

“Do you think we should stop and figure out what they are? Or at least slow down so we can get a better glimpse of them? Maybe they are friendly people that we have just never heard of or seen before. It has happened before.” I looked meaningfully at Milo and the Black Renegades.

Milo shook his head. “No. We keep going. If we were to change our pace at all it would just prove that we have seen these splashes of color and if they are people they may attack us. There must be tons of them, or they must be super fast runners to keep up with us and appear every fifteen feet exactly.” While that was true, I ached to know what they were. My curiosity was almost overwhelming. I hated not knowing something. Peering back out into the forest I strained my eyes and leaned a little closer to the window. My head was still inside, but the Black Renegade next to me still pulled me back a little. I turned to glance at him with a question in my eyes.

“It is better to be safe than sorry.” I nodded in gratitude and understanding. They were only looking out for me and making sure that I stayed safe. When I peeked back out the window I was stupefied to see a person standing right inside the trees staring at me. Exclaiming I leaned far back into the carriage alongside the Black Renegade. Everyone turned to look at me.

“There was a person standing right inside the tree line looking at us. They appeared out of nowhere and” I continued after staring out the window again, “they disappeared just as fast.”

Darius grabbed my shoulders and proceeded to interrogate me. “What did they look like? Were they looking at all of us or just you? Did they seem friendly or hostile?”

“I think they were wearing what looked like a red leather short top that left their stomach uncovered, they were definitely a woman, she wore a red leather skirt, and seemed barefoot. She kind of looked like she was looking at all of us, and I am not really sure whether she seemed hostile or not. There seemed to be mostly just curiosity on her face.”

“Curiosity is good. That means they will try to watch us more or maybe even interact with us before they do anything drastic. At least that is what the majority of people in this world would do. Who knows if these people are anything like anyone we have ever seen or encountered before.” The Black Renegade who said it now looked to Milo. He would be the one to make the final decision on this matter.

Milo seemed to still be thinking about what we would do about these mysterious people that watched us from the trees. Finally his face showed his resolve. A conclusion had been made. “We will carry on with what we are doing. Changing anything about what we are doing right now could have huge consequences. The best course of action until something changes is to be constant and predictable. This will make sure that we do not anger or make these forest people panic.” Even though everything Milo said made perfect sense to me, I still itched to do something. Being unable to control what happened next made me feel weak and helpless. I hated feeling those emotions and would do everything in my power to never feel them even though I knew they could make me stronger. Letting out a sigh, I leaned back in my chair from my leaned forward position and tried to think of something, anything else.

In the midst of my thoughts, a scream came from outside the carriage in the forest. Our carriage came to an abrupt halt and everyone raced out of the carriage to see what was going on, who had screamed, and why the carriage had halted so suddenly. Gazing up to the driver first, I saw that his face was pale and he looked scared to death of whatever had made him stop. Now looking at the road in front of us I was stunned by what I saw. A woman stood about twenty-five feet in front of the carriage and she was covered in what looked like blood. Wondering who she had killed, it did not appear that she was injured in any way, I soon saw the leopard about two feet to the woman’s right. There was a spear embedded deep within its body, and it was obviously dead. My jaw dropped and all I could do was stare at the woman. She was strong enough to kill a fully grown leopard with just a spear and escape without any visible injuries?

Alex, Tyler, Hazel, Sophia, Casey, and Liam raced over to me. My guards already had their weapons out and ready. Darius’s guards Dustin, Joshua, Ethan, and Kane rushed over to him. They also had their weapons out and held at the ready. About five of the Black Renegades ran over to Milo and stood with their weapons at the ready as well. It seemed that he had assigned guards as well. Not dwelling anymore on them, I turned my attention back to the woman. During all of us running over here, she had not moved a muscle. She had just stood there and watched us prepare for battle. Milo took a step closer to the woman, which also took him a step away from his guards who did not seem to appreciate it when he gestured for them to stay put, and addressed her. “That is an excellent kill. I am very impressed by your skill with a spear.” The woman lowered her head in thanks to Milo, but did not speak to him. “What is your name? Are you part of the people that have been watching us during our ride through the forest today?”

Instead of answering, she glanced at the forest to her left. Milo followed her gaze and was astonished to see that there were tons more people that looked a lot like the woman standing right inside the tree line. They had the same dark skin tone, they wore leather clothes in varying colors, they were all barefoot, and each of them seemed to either have black or dark brown hair. We could not see exactly how many of them there were, but there were definitely more of them than there were of us. Praying that these people were friendly I signaled for my guards to put away their weapons. Though uncertain about it, they followed my order and sheathed their weapons. Seeing that, Darius had his guards sheathe their weapons as well. Neither group seemed happy about it. Milo soon had his guards putting away their weapons also. The rest of the Black Renegades followed suit and placed their weapons back in their sheathes. Now all of us were completely unarmed and I was not sure what else we could do to appear more friendly towards them. All of the people standing in the trees now approached us. Their own weapons were held at the ready except for the one in the front of the pack. He seemed to be their King.

Judging from the way he kissed the woman who had slain the leopard, we had been talking to the Queen. I was glad that we had talked civilly to her at least, even though we had pulled our weapons on her. I waited with bated breath to see what would happen to us next. It was still a day’s ride to the boat and if we were chased by these people I was not sure about how good our chances of making it safely were. Based on the way my guards and maids were all tensed up, I assumed they were thinking the same thing. When the King opened his mouth, we all silenced even the smallest of our movements. This was not something we wanted to miss. “I am glad that you did not attack my wife. Now we can use our manners and talk to you instead of using our weapons.”

“We are not the kind of people to attack someone without provocation. Your wife may have saved at least one of us from injury by killing the leopard that apparently was about to attack us. Thank you for that.” Showing his appreciation, Milo gave a little head bow to their King.

Giving out a deep long laugh, their King waved off Milo’s bow. “That was nothing. You should see some of her bigger kills.” His wife elbowed him in the side and whispered something in his ear. Their King laughed again. “My wife just reprimanded me for being rude. Let me apologize now for that.”

“There was no offense taken Your Majesty, so there is no need to apologize.”

“You do not need to call me Your Majesty seeing as I am not royalty. My people put me in charge of them because I was the best for the job. You can call me Everett. My wife’s name is Aziza. Now down to business. I am sure that you could have easily taken care of that leopard. In fact, I bet that at least some of your warriors could have taken it on single handedly. Especially those two with violet eyes.” Seeing Darius and me smile at each other, Everett laughed again. “That is what I thought.” Peeking around my guards to look at Darius, I saw him doing the same thing to look at me. Silently chuckling at each other, we returned our attention back to Everett and Aziza. “Would all of you like to come to our village for a feast? We could get to know each other better and maybe we could help one another.”

Gauging our reactions to that news, Milo graciously accepted Everett's invitation on all of our behalves. “It would be our honor to come and feast with you.” Striding forward, I ended up near the front with Darius and Milo.

“How do you think this will go? Do you think there will be any problems?” My voice was barely audible to them. We were too close to Everett and Aziza to speak any louder without them hearing.

“It is hard to tell. They seem friendly, but it could always be a trap. Keep all of your guards up and your weapons ready.” Nodding, our guards loosened their sheathes so they could pull out their weapons in a moment’s notice. Making sure to keep our pace the same so that no one would get suspicious, we had the order relayed throughout all of the Black Renegades. If something happened, we would not be caught unprepared. After he had kidnapped us, Malick had seemed nice for a time as well. I had told him many things that maybe I should not have. That would not happen again. Seeing that all of our people had awareness in their eyes, I knew that we had gotten the message to them all. After about twenty minutes of hiking in the forest we finally reached our destination. All around us people were grabbing ropes that were thrown down from above and had started climbing into the trees. Craning my head back, I could just make out the people and wood buildings near the tops of the trees.

“This is a really hidden home. I like it.” The awe and appreciation was clear in my voice.

“Thank you. We worked really hard on it. It took us years to make it perfect for us.” Everett had obvious pride in his voice. It was well deserved. I had meant every word that I had said. As a rope fell near me, I grabbed on and started my ascent. The Black Renegades, Milo, his guards, Darius, his guards, my guards, and my maids were all now on ropes and going up. It was a long way up, but I made it pretty easily since I had been working out a lot since I had been kidnapped. I would never be too weak again. Quickly running over to the rope that held Sophia, I pulled on it until she finally reached the top. After all, she was younger and weaker than me. Leaving her gasping for air near some of the native people, I went over to help Hazel. Heaving her to the top, I put my hands on my knees and pulled in a couple of big breaths. Better now, the first person I saw when I stood up was Darius. He was smiling at me from about five feet away.

“How are you doing? I saw you pull your maids to the top. That was nice of you.”

My laugh was a little breathless, and it was not just from the physical exertion. “They needed a little bit of help, and I needed a bit more of a workout. It was no big deal.” Waving my good deed off, I did something bold. I went over to Darius and held his hand. “Walk with me to the feast?” Darius’s smile answered my question. We walked over to where the feast would be held side by side, and hand in hand. Aziza was the first to see us like this and she gave me a look that clearly told me good job. She seemed to understand how much courage it had taken to take the first step and grab Darius’s hand. Noticing that I was about to pull out my chair to sit down, Darius pulled it out for me first. We sat down on seats right next to each other, and I let go of his hand. It would have seemed weird to continue to hold his hand when sitting. My heart was pumping wildly. He had held my hand back and even pulled out my chair for me. That totally meant that he liked me right? He had even told Casey that he might even like me more than a friend already. I hoped that he had reached the point where he knew that he liked me more than a friend because I had now officially reached that point.

Standing up, Everett said a few words about his hopes for the future with us and then he announced that the feast had now begun. Cheering along with everyone else, I started to dig into the delicious food in front of me. There was wild turkey, wild boar, apples, oranges, rice, noodles, different sauces, and a lot of foods that I didn't even recognize. My eyes closed in pleasure. It felt like my taste buds were having a party on my tongue. Eating even more enthusiastically now, I was soon too full to eat anymore. It was sad because I had not even sampled everything on the table that I had wanted to try. I was satisfied though because all the food I had eaten had tasted so good and exotic. The spices were unlike anything I had eaten before. The sauces were interesting, but somehow seemed to go with everything else on the table. All the people sitting next to me seemed just as full and happy as me. Even the native people who had at least tried all this food before. Apparently a feast like this was not an everyday event. Wishing we could stay for several more days and have more feasts, I leaned back in my chair in satisfaction.

Aziza stood up this time. “Now that most people have finished eating, there are several games and activities that you may participate in if you wish too. For the children there are several areas roped off just for you. These areas hold all the things you might need to have a great time. Adults, the rest of the space is for you. Leave the roped areas alone and you can do practically whatever you want. There is only one rule for everyone. Have fun!” Screaming their happiness, the little kids ran off first to the roped areas. Giggling at them, some of the adults got up seconds later to go do what they wanted. Not sure what I wanted to do, I stayed sitting and waited for someone to take me and tell me that I was going to do something with them. Or I could just sit here for the rest of the night. That would be fine with me. Once I was hungry again I could just eat more food because it seemed they were going to leave it all here for anyone who wanted a snack during the night.

Coming over to me first, Aziza took my hand and pulled me to my feet. “Were you just planning on staying here for the rest of the night?”

I grinned at her. “Well if it kept me near the food then…” Raising my hands in the air, I looked at her with amusement. Rolling her eyes at me she dragged me over to a bunch of other native people that were dancing what looked like a traditional dance. Watching them for a moment, I soon knew enough of the dance to join in. Pounding my feet to the rhythm I was soon spinning and jumping along with them all. Having the time of my life, I did not even notice the crowd that was starting to gather. They were all mostly watching me and they were all getting caught up in my energy and fun. Striking a final pose for the last beat of the song I bowed to the tumultuous applause that the audience gave me. A little embarrassed from all the attention, I tried to back out of dancing in the next song, but I was forced into staying. Dancing more reserved this time at the beginning I attempted to stay out of the limelight, but I soon got caught up in the song and beat and I started to come out of the shadows and everyone began to watch me again. By the end of the second song I was breathing harder than everyone else just because of how much energy and effort I put into my dancing.

Leaving the dance floor I found an open seat where I could still see the dancers that were still dancing. Their movements were so graceful that they almost looked otherworldly. My dancing definitely had not been that good. The only reason I had been applauded was because I was different and the native people had seen that I had tried really hard to do good and become kind of like them. Resting my aching feet, I looked up when someone sat next to me in the open seat to my left. Straightening up, I smiled at Darius. “Hey you. Have you done anything fun yet?”

“Nothing real exciting. The only thing I have done so far is beat a couple of the warriors here in sword fights and watched you dance a little. Did you enjoy the dancing as much as it looked like you did?”

“Yes, I really enjoyed the dancing and the people were really supportive and nice.”

“They did seem really nice. I am starting to think that we will be safe here at least for one night. Milo says we are leaving early tomorrow morning though. He does not want to delay our journey more than it already has been delayed.”

Nodding, I replied, “That makes sense. He does not want his people at the boats to be waiting there for longer than they have to. After all, this land can be dangerous as we have already seen during our travels.” Before Darius could respond to me, two of the natives came over and pulled us both to our feet.

“You both have to come dance with us! It will be so much fun!” Protesting weakly, we were soon on the dance floor. Mimicking those around us we were just getting into the groove of the music and figuring out the dance moves when the music changed on us. Glancing around to see what we were supposed to do now, I was confused to see that everyone was pairing off and doing their own dances.

Another native came over to explain it to us. “Darius put both of your hands on her waist, and Ari put your hands on his shoulders. Then you can either sway, go in circles, or basically do whatever you want. This is the easiest way to dance to this music. If you want to do something harder you can attempt to do what that couple is doing.” Staring wide-eyed at the two people he indicated I was stunned by what they were doing. They were spinning and flipping almost too fast for me to follow with my eyes. There was no way we would be able to copy them. Laughing softly, the native went back to his girl to dance. Slowly swaying to the music, I found that I really liked this dance. It was really similar to how we had danced in my kingdom except that you could do whatever steps you wanted, and there was no possible way to mess up. Another thing I liked is that it required that I get close to Darius and even talk to him. Both of which I was not opposed to at all. Opening my mouth to speak, I saw Darius open his mouth at the same time. Stopping, I told him to go ahead. He said the same thing.

Chuckling, I decided to go ahead and talk first. “This is nice. I like this dance. Maybe even more than I liked the other dances I have done so far.”

“I really like this dance too. Almost as much as I like you.” He sounded hesitant by the end, but he forced the words out nervously.

Smiling so big and hard that it almost hurt, I gave him the answer he had been waiting for. “I like you too. I might even like you more than you like me.”

Darius grinned in relief. “I do not think it is possible for you to like me more than I like you.”

I shrugged. “You never know.” Hearing the music picking back up and all the couples breaking apart and getting into lines I reluctantly pulled away. “We should probably get back into the lines now. However we will have to do this again. We could even do it when we camp next away from everyone else.”

“I would really like that.” His voice had gotten soft and low. Returning to our line and spot, we continued dancing until late into the night. Finally exhausted we had to say good night to everyone and head to where we would sleep for the night. Collapsing into my assigned cot, I soon realized that I was way too happy to go to sleep even though I was so tired. Turning onto my side, I suppressed my giggle because of the other women that were around me sleeping. I did not want to be a bad guest and wake them all up in the middle of the night. About an hour later I was finally able to go to sleep with a smile on my face. Waking up with a jolt hours later, I sat up fast. All around me, the women were all still sleeping. None of them even stirred. Wondering what had woken me up I got out of bed and slipped my boots and the dagger that I had gotten from Alex. Those were the only things I had removed before I had gotten into bed. I had not wanted to be unprepared for anything unexpected that could happen. Grateful for that now, I slipped quietly from the wooden building I had been sleeping in. Wishing that I had found a sword before now, I thought about waking Hazel and Sophia, but quickly dismissed that idea.